Junyuhstar and Her Guitar at Davidson College

There’s something about stripped-back bedroom indie music that feels raw, like it’s capturing the cooped-up soul of a budding artist. Junah Jeong, a Charlotte native and sophomore economics major at Davidson College, knows this intimate kind of recording well. Her music documents a coming-of-age story through the various stage names she’s taken. The 2024 EP phantom she released as ‘junyuhstar’ melds beabadoobee-style acoustic guitar with ethereal vocals to form an acoustic dreamscape that is both self-contained and vast, made with nothing but a guitar, mic, and GarageBand.

phantom is a wispy and haunting look into Junah’s diary that reveals the inner turmoil of a young girl with a lot to process. She separates herself from the music she makes, thinking of it as the work of a far more vulnerable part of herself. Each name she takes is a singular persona constructed out of her emotional state at the time of the song’s inception. The resulting music is an exposition of self, something she would rather explore solo despite the opportunities a band effort could offer in Davidson’s stringent music scene.

FRONTRUNNER spoke with Junah about her EP phantom, indie and R&B influences, and the unpredictable songwriting process. You can find Junah’s EP on Spotify and YouTube.

What kind of music did you hear around the house growing up? Were you a musical kid?

I heard a lot of jazz. I also heard a lot of Stevie Wonder, that’s like the one name that pops into my head, Stevie Wonder and the Beatles. It was usually just my dad turning on something that he really, really likes. As a child, I wasn’t really that musical…I played flute in middle school (laughing). Oh, I sucked at it. I literally didn’t even get any of the first five chairs, you know how they would rank you? But, um, I started playing guitar in middle school because my dad played guitar, and over time, I got semi-decent. I’ve been singing for forever, and I actually think I only got good at singing during COVID because I was listening to myself so much. That’s about all the musical history I have.

Dad sounds like a cool guy.

Yeah, he’s such a cool guy. He’s great. He taught me everything I know in regard to guitar.

What’s your songwriting and production process like?

So, for me, songwriting is…I read this somewhere, that you make as many songs as possible, and half of them are gonna sound really bad. I mean, probably not even half, probably most of them are gonna sound really bad, and you just hope that one sounds decent. And you just have to remember to write that one down and keep it in your mind. That’s how my process of making music looks, just me in my room playing guitar until something sounds good.

Once I get kind of a chorus or melody or a verse and think ‘wow, I vibe with this,’ I’ll write it down, I’ll record it, and then I’ll play that in my head. Usually, I have my headphones throughout the week and just listen to that sound and see what I can add to it, and just continue writing down lyrics, and once I have the full song actually made, I’ll produce it. I’ll plug in my guitar to my computer, plug in my mic, that’s about the extent of it. I don’t have any fancy production things, that’s kinda it. And then I’ll just mess around in GarageBand until it sounds good.

How’s your experience been with the Davidson music scene?

Honestly, it was really rough the first year because I wanted to break out so much in the music scene. It was really hard, I think, as a freshman who didn’t have anything released or made. But being part of the music scene and being a part of a band, but I think I just missed a lot of the marks. Because, like, first semester was a little awkward, second semester I wanted to do stuff, but everyone else had already kind of set a rhythm. So I was kind of like…dang…But then I released one song in the spring of my freshman year and I told people about it, they listened to it, and they were like, ‘oh, you’re actually good at making stuff.’ (laughing)

So when I released my EP phantom in the summer, I kind of let that float around and now it’s been easier, a lot more people have reached out to me. It’s been better, very happy about that. There’s just a lot of people on campus. Most people want to do music stuff, which is fun, but I definitely think I’m not a band person. I haven’t tried making a band, but I really do value my own thing first and then if I ever want to, I would take on people one by one.

Did you always want to do music professionally?

When I was younger, I really wanted to be a singer, but I wasn’t good at singing or any instruments. But now that I’m getting older, I would love to pursue music professionally. I would love to just do that as my career. But it definitely isn’t the easiest industry. I think I’m scared that if I do one day kind of throw away other career aspirations and make it my whole thing, that it might become this thing where I feel always obligated to do it and end up hating it.

So I kind of like it right now where I can produce music, and I do get recognized. Someone will reach out to me and be like, ‘hey, can you perform this?’ It’s kind of more of a passion. It can stay a passion for right now. But if I do get the chance to pursue music professionally and get signed by a label or something, I think that’d be pretty sick. That’d be crazy. We’ll have to see about that. It’s more like, I’m throwing things out there and if people like it, they’ll reach out, and if not, that’s ok.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

I love this question. I would say probably Lana del Rey. I love Lana, big fan, especially when she was Lizzy Grant. I don’t know if that’s controversial because she was not mentally as stable, but the songs are good! She’s been a good musician for forever. But that era really spoke to me so much when I was in high school, I was obsessed with anything Lizzy Grant. I loved that. I still love Lana too, though, you know, they’re just different personas. Different eras. Also beabadoobee, oh my gosh, HUGE beabadoobee fan. A lot of my earlier songs that are in the archives sound a lot like her because I literally would listen to Patched Up constantly, always, and then started to sound identical to her.

Another one would probably be Strawberry Guy. Now he’s kind of known for Mrs. Magic, I have that whole album on vinyl! I was obsessed with it for a good three years. Those are the three artists I associate with when I made all my first songs. I feel like they’re my biggest inspirations but now I’ve kind of strayed away from them. I still love them, don’t get me wrong, but I associate them with my junior and senior year of high school. That’s when I started making music. Rough time, but they really got me through it and they’re kind of the reason why I wanted to start making music.

Do you think your music style reflects your personality?

I think no, I don’t think it does. For the longest time, I contemplated going by a stage name, I’ve released stuff under different names because I don’t think that the person I show to everyday people and my close friends is the same person who produces music. They’re like different personas.

So I don’t think it reflects my personality the best. It’s the raw parts of me, the parts I hide, because personally, if I go through a really emotional thing, I’m not very open about it. So my music persona is kind of made for that. It’s what she’s for, it’s a good way to release my emotions. She’s, like, depressed…and has gone through stuff, and that’s different from me. I think I’m a lot happier now, but my EP phantom was about this horrid relationship. It was 4 years long and for half of it, we weren’t even dating.

Oh, that’s the worst.

Yeah! Half of it was just us talking and me being in love with this man! I called it phantom because of how much, even now, he leaves this impact on me that I’m frustrated with, like, why are you haunting me? That sounds so cheesy, but why do I still think about you when we have no correlation anymore? There’s no bridge between us so why do I look at something and think of you, you know what I mean? And that part of me, I don’t like showing that vulnerability to other people I meet on a daily basis. Talking about it is a vulnerable thing, even talking about my EP. But I do want to talk about it though because I think it’s important to be vulnerable.

That’s how I feel about my music in general though. Yes, it’s a part of me, but really…is it a part of me? It’s kind of separate, it’s like its own thing, if that makes sense. And now when people bring up phantom to me, I made it in the summer, but I don’t think about the relationship that much now. But when I was making it… It was a lot. That was a different me.